For artists and art fans in Bozeman and beyond

Monthly Archives: August 2010

You are invited to The Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture annual gala fundraiser the Celebration of the Arts on September 11, 2010 at 6pm.

The Emerson Center is a non-profit community art center that serves as a primary resource for the arts, arts education and cultural activities in southwest Montana. The Celebration of the Arts is the Emerson’s largest fundraiser. Proceeds from the evening will fund the Emerson’s exhibits and education programs and the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the historic 1918 building.

The festive evening features an array of talented Quick Draw Finish artists, live entertainment, an inspired buffet, silent and live auctions, an open bar and a wide range of cultural talents from Emerson tenants and others around the Bozeman community.

Now showing at the Jessie Wilber Gallery is an exhibit by China Marks. The artist will give a gallery talk on Thursday, Sept. 16, at 6pm.

Not quilts, not collages, these pieced and stitched fabric assemblages pique one’s curiosity. The spliced imagery is quirky, surreal and slightly ominous. And that grabs our attention. China’s New York studio is glutted with innumerable cloth swatches of both contemporary and historic fabrics. This forms her primary palette, Countering tradition, the artist dispenses with sketches or other preliminary planning and launches directly into actualizing these eccentric narratives. Fabric scraps prepared with fusible backing are combined with unprepared printed pieces until a composition emerges. Then China temporarily fuses these fragments through ironing them together. These assembled fabric cutouts are then joined more permanently through laborious, zigzag stitching.

Be sure to see this amazing and unique work! For more information, contact Ellen Ornitz at ellen@theemerson.org.

Update: There will also be a gallery talk by Willem Volkersz @ 6pm during Artwalk 9/10.

Montana State University is proud to present an exhibition of ceramic works from the MSU permanent collection. The works will be on exhibit Monday 30 August – Thursday 16 September, 2010, at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery in Haynes Hall. The gallery is open Monday through Friday; 9AM – 5PM (except Labor Day, Monday 6 September). There will be a closing reception on Thursday 16 September, 7PM – 9PM, at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery, with invited speaker Josh DeWeese.

View rare and incredible ceramic objects from the MSU archives. The front gallery takes viewers back more than 100 years through the astoundingly beautiful Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest United States. These large bowls, polychrome jars and assorted objects represent excellent examples of pots from the Zia, Acoma, Santa Clara, and Santa Domingo Pueblos.

The back gallery represents the MSU Ceramics Research Collection. Included in the exhibition are pieces by alumni, former professors and visiting artists at Montana State University; such as Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio and Frances Senska. Experience early 1950’s Peter Voulkos glazed, wheel-thrown pottery and witness the beginnings of his raw abstract expressionist forms. This collection also includes raw clay pieces by American masters Rudy Autio, Paul Soldner and Patti Warashina. Included in this show are pieces made by current professors Josh DeWeese and Dean Adams, as well as, current School of Art Graduate Students in Ceramics Dave Peters and Ernest Forward.

Yellowstone Stories, a show of watercolors by artist Marsha Karle, will be on display throughout the Fall semester at Montana State University Libraries in the first floor Heathcote Court. Marsha has drawn on fifteen years of experience living and working in Yellowstone National Park in creating her watercolors.

“Having spent so many years involved in Yellowstone’s controversies and issues, it can take some time to make the transition back to just seeing and appreciating the park for its beauty. It’s such a wonderful place, and I’ve tried to capture its magic in watercolors that give us little glimpses of all the daily drama that goes on in nature.”

This is Marsha’s second library show in Bozeman this year. In June and July, seventy of her watercolors and sketches of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park were shown at the Bozeman Public Library.

The Emerson is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for our annual Holiday Bazaar. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, December 11 from 10am to 8pm in the Emerson Ballroom. A limited number of booths will be available and the application deadline is Sept. 1 October 1. All artists are invited to apply and will be a juried selection process.

Get in the holiday spirit and contact Jordan at the Emerson. To receive the application, contact Jordan at jordan@theemerson.org or 587-9797.

Enjoy a Montana summer evening strolling through Willow Creeks’ Art Walk on Friday, August 20th. The Art Walk will begin at 5 p.m. and go to 9 p.m.

The Fire Hall brings all the regional artists and crafters under one roof. Handcrafted knifes and beads by Donna Pogreba, watercolors by Pat Gibson; as well as necklaces, oil paintings, copper jewelry, llama scarves and caps, photographs are part of the variety you will enjoy browsing through. The Fire Hall will feature their hot off the grill hamburgers as a fundraiser for the Willow Creek High School Field Trips.

Painting by Pat Mahan

Don Kast at Willow Creek Gallery continues to display the works created by himself and his wife. Their works range from traditional landscapes in oil to contemporary mixed media. Their shady porch is a fine place to enjoy their artwork and escape the summer heat.

Leslie Drawbaughs’ Walls of Grace Studio, (straight across from the Willow Creek Cafe), presents pastels fantasies drawings and abstract landscapes in acrylic which continue to amaze viewers with her choices of colors. Enjoy chocolate tipped strawberries with other fruit delights to cool down an hot summer night. Special frozen treats for all kids at heart offered.

Dave Kirk, at Aunt Dofe’s House of Recent Memory will feature the contemporary work of Nan Parsons. He will also have music by M.J. Williams and Friends. Aunt Dofe’s will continue to give amazing food. Call Dave Kirk at 285-6996 for more information on this gallery.

If you still want to just enjoy a sit down meal, then make reservations to our famous Willow Creek Cafe and Bar. Their number is 285-3698.

tart presents a show of new work by Gabriel Kulka. Known for his haunting, sometimes achingly evocative sculptural work, Gabriel presents a series of petite work for this exhibit. Figures crafted from scraps of hardwood, string, nails, metal, and other “junk” cause the viewer to stop, to think, to find something new upon each viewing.

Whether the pieces are two feet tall or two inches high, Kulka’s sculptural perspective reverberates with isolation and what it means to be ensnared in the human form. Much of Kulka’s work invites the viewer to participate – to twist a string, move a leg, turn or remove a part of a sculpture – to be whimsical, mindful, fully in the world. But it is only a tease, because in the end we still feel like a visitor.
-Michele Corriel

An opening reception will be held during Art Walk on Friday, August 13th, 5-8pm.